Everybody loves 3-D. It’s the latest trend in games, TV’s and movies but what if you have a 3-D phone? Would you be interested to have your phone in 3D? Well, get ready for your phone's screen to broadcast images in three dimensions.
Sharp Electronics will debut a pair of handsets that render 3-D images without the need for glasses. Cool huh? However, the Sharp 3-D phones, which run Google's Android operating system, initially will be available only in Japan.
Tech blog Engadget reported Thursday that the pair of phones will be released in Japan in December and February. The first, the Galapagos OO3SH, features a touchscreen while the second, the Galapagos OO5SH, has a slide-out keyboard.
Engadget reported via Engadget Japanese that both phones have 3.8-inch display screens, and the 3SH has a 9.6-megapixel camera while the 5DH has an 8-megapixel camera.
The ability to run 3-D on a phone may not seem to have much practical use, but as social-networking blog Mashable noted Thursday, smartphones are acting as much as portable entertainment devices as phones at this point.
Video-game maker Capcom has announced that 3-D versions of several games -- "Mega Man," "Ghosts 'n Goblins: Gold Knights" and "Resident Evil: Degeneration" -- are in development for the Android system.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Google Instant Now in iPhone and Android
Google Instant has made its way to two mobile phones, the iPhone and the Android.
Google said in a blog post that Google searchers in the U.S. using the iPhone and Android phones will start seeing Google Instant show up on their devices over the course of today.
Google Instant on iPhone and Android is a beta release, meaning Google doesn't want you to get mad at them if it doesn't work exactly right, and unlike the desktop version, you have to turn it on in order to see results as you type. It only works at Google.com in your mobile browser, but not in any of the other search boxes.
This is theoretically a boon to mobile searches, because typing on a mobile device is far more annoying than typing on a full-size keyboard. However, as TechCrunch notes, the limited screen real estate on a mobile device may make the service less useful. The keypad on several touch-screen mobile phones takes up nearly half the screen on its own, and the drop-down box that produces suggested Google Instant results further reduces the page available for the search results page itself.
Google said you'll need to be running iOS 4.0 or Android 2.2 in order for this to work.
Google said in a blog post that Google searchers in the U.S. using the iPhone and Android phones will start seeing Google Instant show up on their devices over the course of today.
Google Instant on iPhone and Android is a beta release, meaning Google doesn't want you to get mad at them if it doesn't work exactly right, and unlike the desktop version, you have to turn it on in order to see results as you type. It only works at Google.com in your mobile browser, but not in any of the other search boxes.
This is theoretically a boon to mobile searches, because typing on a mobile device is far more annoying than typing on a full-size keyboard. However, as TechCrunch notes, the limited screen real estate on a mobile device may make the service less useful. The keypad on several touch-screen mobile phones takes up nearly half the screen on its own, and the drop-down box that produces suggested Google Instant results further reduces the page available for the search results page itself.
Google said you'll need to be running iOS 4.0 or Android 2.2 in order for this to work.
Monday, November 1, 2010
LinkedIn Brings More To Company Pages
Professional social network LinkedIn has been beefing up its Company Profiles on the network in addition to adding more functionality to user profile pages allowing businesses to add a follow option, and include a news feed and career information.
LinkedIn idea behind these features is to encourage companies to add more data to their profiles, which can be useful for professionals looking for job opportunities and for recruiters as well. Today, LinkedIn is adding additional curated information to company pages, products, services and the ability to recommend a company or product.
On company pages, administrators can add products and services tab. So an accounting business can showcase various financial services the company offers. LinkedIn is taking it one step further to allow companies to tailor lists of products and services, based on member profiles. So a business owner can showcase one set of products (or services) to accountants in the aviation industry and another to engineers in the shipping industry.
Companies can also add videos of products and services to their pages and feature particular products more prominently than others.
In turn, LinkedIn members can recommend and review a product or service on a company profile, and their recommendations will surface on their own profiles as well. Company pages will list the people who have recommended a particular product as well. Interestingly, it looks like LinkedIn is using the recommendation technology from mSpoke, which LinkedIn acquired earlier this year.
LinkedIn is also revealing that a number of well known companies are using the Pages module, including Dell, HP, JetBlue, Microsoft and E*Trade.
LinkedIn idea behind these features is to encourage companies to add more data to their profiles, which can be useful for professionals looking for job opportunities and for recruiters as well. Today, LinkedIn is adding additional curated information to company pages, products, services and the ability to recommend a company or product.
On company pages, administrators can add products and services tab. So an accounting business can showcase various financial services the company offers. LinkedIn is taking it one step further to allow companies to tailor lists of products and services, based on member profiles. So a business owner can showcase one set of products (or services) to accountants in the aviation industry and another to engineers in the shipping industry.
Companies can also add videos of products and services to their pages and feature particular products more prominently than others.
In turn, LinkedIn members can recommend and review a product or service on a company profile, and their recommendations will surface on their own profiles as well. Company pages will list the people who have recommended a particular product as well. Interestingly, it looks like LinkedIn is using the recommendation technology from mSpoke, which LinkedIn acquired earlier this year.
LinkedIn is also revealing that a number of well known companies are using the Pages module, including Dell, HP, JetBlue, Microsoft and E*Trade.
Could Mobile Payments Be Apple’s Next Big Strategic Opportunity?
Could mobile payments be the next Apple big strategic opportunity? When an analyst asked Steve Jobs during Apple’s last earnings call on what he plans to do with Apple’s $50 billion in cash. Jobs replied that he wants to keep Apple’s “powder dry” in case “one or more strategic opportunities . . . come along.” Speculation started immediately about who Apple could buy with all that cash: Facebook, Sony, Adobe?
But it is known that Apple never makes huge acquisitions. Instead, it tends to make smaller talent and technology acquisitions. And Apple’s rumored interest in mobile payments startup BOKU would fall into that pattern. The fact that it is in M&A discussions with BOKU doesn’t mean a deal is going to happen, but it does mean that Apple is very interested in mobile payments.
Whether it builds or buys, or does a little bit of both, mobile payments could be a huge opportunity for Apple within the next few years. Imagine if your iPhone became your wallet? The dream of turning mobile phones into wallets has been pursued for a long time by many companies, but Apple is in a unique position to make mobile payments more mainstream. Apple already handles payments very well through iTunes, which boasts 160 million active credit card accounts. PayPal only has 90 million.
Payments will start with digital goods like songs, movies, apps and in-app purchases. Apple already does all of this today through iTunes, which is one of the best micro-transaction aggregation systems around. What if you could charge those micro-transactions to your phone bill just as easily as you could to your credit card?
Then, it would be even easier for Apple to sell apps, songs, and movies through iTunes, especially to younger customers or those in developing countries who may not have a credit card. (BOKU’s strength is those carrier relationships).
Over time, those payments could spread from digital and virtual goods to real-world purchases. Apple is not thinking about adding a near-field communications (NFC) chip into the next iPhone for nothing. The more people use their iPhones to actually purchase goods, the more indispensable it will become.
Would Apple ever take the next logical step and become payments processor itself? If it does, Apple would be able to cut out the carriers from the mobile payments equation. Swap the carrier bill with iTunes, and those fees the carriers charge to process micro-payments go away. Apple can start charging those fees instead or pass the savings along to their iPhone-toting consumers, who will then be able to spend more on stuff in the iTunes store and elsewhere.
But it is known that Apple never makes huge acquisitions. Instead, it tends to make smaller talent and technology acquisitions. And Apple’s rumored interest in mobile payments startup BOKU would fall into that pattern. The fact that it is in M&A discussions with BOKU doesn’t mean a deal is going to happen, but it does mean that Apple is very interested in mobile payments.
Whether it builds or buys, or does a little bit of both, mobile payments could be a huge opportunity for Apple within the next few years. Imagine if your iPhone became your wallet? The dream of turning mobile phones into wallets has been pursued for a long time by many companies, but Apple is in a unique position to make mobile payments more mainstream. Apple already handles payments very well through iTunes, which boasts 160 million active credit card accounts. PayPal only has 90 million.
Payments will start with digital goods like songs, movies, apps and in-app purchases. Apple already does all of this today through iTunes, which is one of the best micro-transaction aggregation systems around. What if you could charge those micro-transactions to your phone bill just as easily as you could to your credit card?
Then, it would be even easier for Apple to sell apps, songs, and movies through iTunes, especially to younger customers or those in developing countries who may not have a credit card. (BOKU’s strength is those carrier relationships).
Over time, those payments could spread from digital and virtual goods to real-world purchases. Apple is not thinking about adding a near-field communications (NFC) chip into the next iPhone for nothing. The more people use their iPhones to actually purchase goods, the more indispensable it will become.
Would Apple ever take the next logical step and become payments processor itself? If it does, Apple would be able to cut out the carriers from the mobile payments equation. Swap the carrier bill with iTunes, and those fees the carriers charge to process micro-payments go away. Apple can start charging those fees instead or pass the savings along to their iPhone-toting consumers, who will then be able to spend more on stuff in the iTunes store and elsewhere.
Reddit Chief Leaves To Join Hipmunk
Top Reddit administrator/engineer Chris Slowe announced that he was leaving the social link sharing site to join Hipmunk . Slowe joined Reddit back in 2005 as the company’s first employee but now he’ll be reunited with its founders Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, both of whom are now at Hipmunk.
Reddit’s traffic has been hitting record high in the wake of Digg’s failed redesign, so Slowe’s timing on this seems strange. In a blog post announcing the move, Slowe writes that his “parting with Condé Nast, Reddit’s parent company, has been nothing but amicable”. But given the issues the companies have had recently, this is hard to believe.
But Slowe claims that the differences Reddit had with Condé Nast over the summer have been largely resolved. Until recently, Condé had been very restrictive when it came to allowing Reddit to hire additional developers, but in the coming weeks there will be blog posts announcing additional open positions. “I feel like we’re at the top of the hump,” he says.
Slowe also notes that his job position will be left open for someone else to claim as what happened when Reddit’s original founders left a year ago where existing personnel had to absorb their responsibilities because of a hiring freeze. And, as further evidence of the goodwill between them, Slowe says that even after he leaves he’ll be available to Reddit on a contractual basis.
Slowe said:
Finally, Slowe talked a bit about the Digg redesign and the impact it’s had on Reddit (and why not everyone over there is throwing high-fives):
Reddit’s traffic has been hitting record high in the wake of Digg’s failed redesign, so Slowe’s timing on this seems strange. In a blog post announcing the move, Slowe writes that his “parting with Condé Nast, Reddit’s parent company, has been nothing but amicable”. But given the issues the companies have had recently, this is hard to believe.
But Slowe claims that the differences Reddit had with Condé Nast over the summer have been largely resolved. Until recently, Condé had been very restrictive when it came to allowing Reddit to hire additional developers, but in the coming weeks there will be blog posts announcing additional open positions. “I feel like we’re at the top of the hump,” he says.
Slowe also notes that his job position will be left open for someone else to claim as what happened when Reddit’s original founders left a year ago where existing personnel had to absorb their responsibilities because of a hiring freeze. And, as further evidence of the goodwill between them, Slowe says that even after he leaves he’ll be available to Reddit on a contractual basis.
Slowe said:
I decided to leave mostly because it was time to do something new. Five years in technology is a long time anywhere, and, without suggesting that reddit is a completed project or anything but a continuously moving and evolving target, it was time to move onto something that is less fully formed with room to explore. That, and [Hipmunk founder] Steve Huffman really has been bugging me to join hipmunk for months. ;)
Finally, Slowe talked a bit about the Digg redesign and the impact it’s had on Reddit (and why not everyone over there is throwing high-fives):
Though it’s been a windfall for reddit traffic-wise (having just last month exceeded 10M uniques and 420M impressions for the first time), it really did make me sad to watch the whole thing happen. Intercommunity animosity has been at worst a playful rivalry for years, and we’ve respected one another’s space. Seeing their front page turn from an active, vibrant community forum into a virtual ghost town in such a short time is, frankly, terrifying to watch (being in an analogous space as we are). It reminded us that there is no room to rest on our laurels, and it is the community as much as the content that makes the site.
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